Eric Joyce, the MP for Falkirk, has been suspended by the Labour Party after
he was arrested on suspicion of assault in the House of Commons bar.

Mr Joyce spent the night in the cells at Belgravia Police Station, after an incident in the MPs' Stranger's Bar, just before 11pm last night.

The 51-year-old was suspended from the Labour party, as John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, asked for no further reference to the "serious" matter in the chamber today.

Fellow MPs said Mr Joyce has been under stress for some time and those who witnessed the scene said the politician did "not appear well".

One witness told PoliticsHome that Mr Joyce allegedly pushed a Conservative member before punching others at the back of the bar.

It was claimed Mr Joyce "started lashing out" at people in the bar, which is for MPs and their guests. One of his victims was reported to be Stuart Andrew, a Conservative MP, while he was also alleged to have hit another Labour MP.

Related Articles

The brawl was believed to have started after Mr Joyce, who has been convicted of drink-driving, apparently complained the bar was "full of Tories".

Chuka Umunna, the Shadow Business Secretary, confirmed that Mr Joyce has been suspended over the "very serious matter".

A spokesman from the Metropolitan Police said: "We were called at about 10.50pm to reports of a disturbance at a bar at the House of Commons. A man in his 50s was arrested and was taken to a central London police station."

Mr Joyce has had a colourful career, leaving the army in 1999 after criticising the force in a pamphlet for the Fabian Society.

He was later elected for Falkirk West in a by-election.

In 2009, it emerged he was Britain's most expensive member of Parliament after claiming £187,334 in expenses in 2007/08.

Last year, he became the first MP to claim more than £200,000 in expenses in one year.